Twisted Paths
by SorayaEllis
Summary: Dark forces lurk, threatening to break bonds that were forged between friends. But will they withstand the challenges thrown at them, or will they fall and become a slave to those who wish harm.
1. Chapter 1

Warnings: Violence and possible smut. Leaving it as M to be safe for now. Oh, and Fem!Reno and Fem!Cloud (Don't ask me why, that was how this story came to me.)

Disclaimer: Don't own. I also don't own SugarAdict!Seph, nor the idea of the 'Turk playground'. Those two awesome ideas belong to Lord Shinta. I would totally recommend reading her fics Life Long Forgotten, Snow Day, and Donum Deae.

Genesis was anything but happy at the moment.

Why did he have to be the one to review this year's cadets? He HATED cadets! It made no sense! But no, Lazard ignored him and threatened him with extra paperwork if he didn't do it.

Genesis tossed another file to the side and opened up a new one. He had to finish reading all of these cadet files, because later that day he was going to watch the cadets spar.

This was to see who qualified for the mentor program and to see who was most likely going to end up in SOLDIER. It was ridiculous though, because since Zack and his fellow cadets, standards started to go downhill. Fewer and fewer people were truly qualified to join SOLDIER.

And then there were the mako tests. Not many people had the tolerance to handle mako, and to progress through the ranks of SOLDIER, you needed a high tolerance. Few people were 3RD CLASS, and even fewer made it to 2ND. So far only he Seph and Angeal made it to 1ST, though Angeal's student may make the ranks of SOLDIER 1ST if he had the tolerance.

Genesis was currently reading the file of a cadet by the name of Cloud Strife. A sixteen year old from Nibelheim. He was intrigued to see that Cloud was of the fairer sex. A pretty little thing with blue eyes and gravity defying blond hair according to the photo in the file. Very few women applied for the SOLDIER program, and those that did never made it past the mako tests. For some reason women didn't seem to tolerate mako as well as men. Still, it could just be that there are mako tolerant women, they just hadn't applied yet.

According to the file that Genesis had, Cloud was doing very well in her classes, and was at the top of her class when it came to handling materia. Most of the physical scores indicated that she was average in that area. Unfortunately she was below average with her sword work.

Genesis wasn't sure what to think of that. On one hand, you need to be able to use a sword if you are to join SOLDIER. On the other hand the instructors teach methods that are all about strength and brute force. If one had a fighting still similar to his or Sephiroth's, one focused more on speed and agility, then you were screwed.

Hmmmm, maybe he should keep an eye out for this one and see which is it: no skill or wrong technique. Maybe even grab Angeal and have him watch the sparing later. He was good at reading people and evaluating them.

Putting the file down in a separate pile, Genesis grabbed the next one belonging to a cadet David Williams.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Sephiroth was hiding out in the observation room waiting for the cadet class to come out and start sparing. He was doing this purely for professional reasons. He totally wasn't hiding from Lazard to avoid doing paperwork, and he most certainly was not stalking the cute little blond cadet he saw two weeks ago.

…Ok, so maybe he was using it as an excuse to avoid paperwork, but come on, who doesn't hate paperwork. And he is nineteen for crying out loud! There is no way a nineteen year old would be able to tolerate doing paperwork for hours on end.

But there was no stalking! Absolutely none! And he didn't have a crush on her either!

…Yeah, that didn't sound convincing at all, even to him.

He really wanted an excuse to meet her, but was terrified of scaring her off. It didn't matter that nearly every girl he met would swoon at his feet or wanted to jump him, he was pretty sure that the idea of having the great and powerful Demon of Wutai stalking you would be more creepy than romantic. It also didn't help that he read her file and knew everything about her (or at least everything the file covered).

And what would he say to her anyways? Hi Cloud, I'm General Sephiroth. I've been stalking you for two weeks and read your file. Would you like to go out on a date with me?

Yeah, there is no way that could possibly backfire.

The gym doors opened and the cadets started to file in. His eyes immediately zoomed in on Cloud the moment she walked in.

Hmmmm, Cloud, the name fit perfectly for his angle.

"Seph? What are you doing here?"

Sephiroth was instantly startled out of his thoughts. How did he not hear anyone enter? Oh, right, he was distracted by the cadet. Did he really let his guard down that badly?

Schooling his expression to a neutral one, Sephiroth turned to face the door to find Angeal and Genesis standing there. Oh crap, if Gen figured out what was going on, he was screwed, and Gen would let the puppy help him plot. Or worse, Tseng.

"I was thinking about watching this year's batch of recruits to see if any of them can qualify for SOLDIER. May I ask why you two are here?"

"Well I'm here because I have to review this batch of cadets to see who is valid to be part of the mentor program."

Oh, right, he forgot about that. "And why is Angeal here?"

"Gen wanted me to take a look at one of the cadets," he said. "I think one of them may have caught his attention."

Well that was a twist. Gen hated cadets. What was special about this one?

"Which one?"

"A cadet Cloud Strife."

Huh? "What is it you want with her?" A shit! Idiot!

Genesis raised an eyebrow, "How did you know that?"

Ummm, quick! Think of something plausible! "I occasionally like to take a look at who is applying to the SOLDIER program. I noticed that we had a female apply this year, and as you know that doesn't happen very often."

Neither Angeal nor Genesis seemed totally convinced with that answer, but they decided to let it slide.

"I read her file and it stated that she was struggling in the physical aspect of the training program. More specifically the sword training area. As you know the teachers focus more on strength and brute force. Angeal is here to help me figure out if she has potential and is being taught the wrong moves or just isn't SOLDIER material. Would be a shame if she wasn't cut out for it considering her talent with materia."

Ah, so that was what caught Gen's attention. Genesis is a master materia user and not many SOLDIER use materia, so seeing someone with talent for it is a good thing in his opinion.

Having nothing else to say Sephiroth tuned is attention back to the cadets, who began sparing, quickly scanning the group for Cloud.

Genesis and Angeal silently moved up to the window also to look for the cadet in question. Genesis was the first to find her and pointed her out to the other two. Sephiroth instantly zoned out and just watched her. Angeal was studying her movements. While she had the very basics down, she had trouble most of the techniques. She didn't have the build to perform those maneuvers successfully. In other words, she had the aptitude but what she was learning wasn't playing to her strengths.

Genesis actually wasn't paying attention to the cadet, or any of the other cadets for that matter. He really didn't care at all if they passed or not. He let his gaze drift over to his two friends and…well Seph seemed quite interested in the cadet. And if Gen had to guess by the way the youngest of the trio was staring it wasn't for professional reasons.

A half hour was spent watching the recruits spar and learn new techniques before the class was dismissed.

"So Angeal, what did you think of the cadet."

"She has potential, but her build doesn't support the fighting style the instructors teach. She does move quickly though, so maybe she would do better if taught a style similar to yours or Sephs."

"Well considering the amount of work Seph already has I don't think that he has the time to take on a student, meaning that I'm her best chance of getting into SOLDIER, and it wouldn't be fair to let such potential go to waste," Genesis said, not at all processing what he just said.

Sephiroth and Angeal just stared at him like he grew an extra limb. "Uh Gen," Angeal started, "did you just volunteer to mentor a cadet?"

It was then he realized what it was that he just said. Crap…"Apparently I just did."

Sephiroth stared at his friend a second longer before turning his gaze back to the gym where a few cadets still lingered before they headed off to lunch. He immediately bristled when he found HIS cadet.

That didn't escape Gen's notice and quickly glanced in the direction the young General was looking. Turned out that Cloud was receiving unwanted attention from another cadet if her expression was anything to go by. Gen recognized the other cadet as David Williams from his picture. Not only did this confirm any suspicions that Gen had about Seph's true intentions for being here today, but it also showed that their dear General had competition for the poor girl's affections.

"Well I need to go talk to Lazard. I'll see the two of you and the puppy in the mess hall, okay?" Gen said, pretending not to have noticed anything.

Sephiroth nodded before briskly walking out of the observation room, trying very hard not to let his jealousy get the better of him.

"Alright, we will be in our usual spot," Angeal replied as he went to follow Sephiroth, leaving his oldest friend alone in the room.

Genesis didn't hide a grin as a plan began to form in his head. So Sephiroth had a crush on a cadet, eh? Maybe he needed just a little help from dear sweet old Gen to give him a push in the right direction. Genesis walked out of the room and headed to the elevator. He would have to go and visit Tseng and let him know of this new development and help him plot.

Of course that's assuming that he wasn't too busy with Ren.


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings: Same as before

Disclaimer: Same as last time. I do want to say that this story came to me a month or two ago when I was reading Snow Day and Life Long Forgotten, so there is the possibility that there are some aspects that are similar between the stories. I'm trying really hard to not make that the case and to give credit to Lord Shinta when necessary.

* * *

Cloud couldn't stand David. He was mean and obnoxious and immature and so full of himself! He also happened to be a bully. She really wished that there was another girl cadet applying to SOLDIER that she could talk to. Her best friend was back in Nibelheim and there were certain things that she couldn't discuss with Zack regardless of the fact that they were friends.

With a sigh Cloud headed down to the cadet mess hall, hoping that David won't try to hit on her again the rest of the day. How many times did she have to say no? Hngh, maybe if she got a boyfriend he would back off.

Unfortunately she seemed unable to attract any decent guys. Zack didn't count since 1: he is a decent guy and 2: they had more of a brother-sister type of relationship.

Speaking of Zack, maybe he could join her for lunch. At least that way David wouldn't try anything.

"Spiky!"

Speak of the devil. "Zack, must you call me that? You know that nickname annoys me."

"Would you prefer it if I called you chocobo head?" he teased.

Oh boy, if looks could kill then the glare that Cloud gave him would have incinerated him instantly.

"Ok, I'll take that as a no. So how has life been treating you? Haven't seen you for a couple of days thanks to all those monster mission."

Cloud shrugged. What could she say? Nothing exciting was going on in her classes, her swordsmanship was weak, and David was being a pain in the ass.

Zack's grin faltered. "Is David still giving you trouble? If you want I can go talk to my mentor Angeal about it. Maybe he can get Seph to do something about it."

That was right, Zack was being mentored by one of the three 1STs in SOLDIER. Cloud felt her cheeks start to heat up when Zack mentioned the General. Yeah, she had a crush on the General (who didn't?), but unlike those crazy Silver Elites, she wasn't obsessed with him. All she knew of the man was how he was portrayed in public. She could ask Zack, but that would be an invasion of privacy. She would wind up looking like some stalker if she asked him about the General's personal life.

"Don't worry about David. I can handle it," she said, hoping that he wouldn't notice her blushing at the mention of Sephiroth.

"I'm actually going to meet them at the SOLDIER cafeteria right now. I can take you to them now and you can tell them about your problem yourself," Zack said suddenly.

Cloud turned beet red at that, "Wha? No! Zack, I shouldn't! Besides, it isn't that big a deal! I can easily handle my problems with him!"

"Cloud please! This is serious. He is harassing you!"

"Zack…"

"At least promise that if it gets any worse you will talk to someone, okay?"

Cloud sighed, "Fine, I promise. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to head to the cafeteria before they run out of edible food," and with that she took off, not giving Zack a chance to drag her with him to meet Angeal and the others.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Sephiroth was sitting at a table in the back of the cafeteria with two cans of Monster, a cream-cheese brownie, and two slices of pizza, waiting for Angeal to finish up paying for his lunch when Zack came bounding in.

Well, more like sulking in.

He flopped down at the table, muttering something about "harassing jerks" or something along those lines when Angeal sat down.

"What's wrong pup?" he asked while taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"A friend of mine is getting harassed by another cadet, but she isn't doing anything about it, insisting that she can handle it. I'm just glad that so far it hasn't gone beyond flirting," Zack said with a pout. He really didn't like at all what was happening to his friend, but there was only so much he could do as a 2ND Class.

Seph frowned. That is a serious–wait? Did Zack say she? Was he referring to…? "Zack, is your friend Cadet Cloud Strife?"

"Yeah, how do you know her?"

"Genesis took an interest in her. He's probably going to end up mentoring her," Angeal answered.

Zack had a dumbfounded look on his face. Gen hated cadets! "Dude, I do not want my friend being turned into Kentucky Fried Chocobo," he deadpanned. And that is exactly what will happen to Cloud. "And why is he interested her in the first place?"

"According to her file, she is at the top of her class when it comes to using materia. Also, after evaluating her skill with a sword, I determined that she does have the potential to use one, but the instructors are teaching techniques that aren't suitable to her build."

Of course it would be the materia that would interest the man. Not a lot of people in SOLDIER use it.

Sephiroth wasn't sure how he felt about Zack being friends with Cloud. He wasn't surprised that they were friends given Zack's friendly nature, but what if Zack was interested in Cloud? He didn't want to cause any conflict with one of his few friends, and he knew if he asked about the nature of their relationship, it would just cause an awkward situation that could potentially lead to disaster.

Eh, he will just wait for Gen to ask. He usually asks questions like that. That's what he did to Tseng when asking about his relationship with Ren. It was amusing watching the usually stoic Turk get embarrassed and flustered.

"Do you know the name of the Cadet?"

"The guy's name is David."

Sephiroth wondered if this Cadet David was the one he saw flirting with Cloud earlier today. Probably was. Well maybe he could ask Tseng or Veld if they can have one of the Turks keep an eye of that troublesome cadet. Unfortunately they couldn't do anything unless a complaint was filed by Cloud against that boy.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Genesis quickly dashed through the Turk office, dodging nerf guns, water guns, and water balloons, as he made his way to Tseng's office. So far they never got him, because his enhanced speed and reflexes kept him safe. Of course if Tseng's door was locked then he was screwed. Fortunately that had yet to happened, but today could be the day.

As a nerf dart whizzed by his head, he wrenched open the door to Tseng's office (thank Gaia it isn't locked!), dashed in, and slammed the door behind him as 5 darts and a water balloon hit the door.

Tseng raised an eye brow at the commander. "No knocking?"

"If I stopped to knock I'd be soaking wet by now, so no," Gen found the SIC of the Turks alone at his desk. Was Reno on a mission? "No Ren today?"

"She is at home recovering from a cold. Now why are you here?"

"To the point as always," Gen said as he flopped down in the chair on the other side of the desk as a grin started to make its way across his face. "Tseng, your second 'little brother' needs our help."

A confused expression etched the man's face. What did Seph need their help for? He was about to ask when Genesis continued on.

"Sephiroth has a crush on one of the cadets and he also has some competition for the girl's affections."

Both eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. Not THAT was interesting. Seph never showed any interest in anyone before. Of course it didn't help that he was practically stalked by his fans. "Who is the lucky cadet?"

"A Miss Cloud Strife. And before you ask, it won't be a problem getting them to meet because I'm going to end up mentoring the kid."

At that Tseng had a blank look on his face. "Who are you and what have you done with Rhapsodos."

"By the Goddess, is the idea of me mentoring a cadet really that implausible?"

"Do you honestly want me to dignify that with a reply," was the deadpanned response Tseng gave.

Genesis thought about it for a second before realizing just how out of character the idea was. "Well she is really skilled with materia and there is no way she would be able to pass the SOLDIER exams with what the instructors are teaching," he said, hoping that it was a good enough defense.

Tseng didn't care what excuse his friend gave; he was willing to bet that the main reason why the commander decided mentor the cadet was mainly because Seph had a romantic interest and Genesis wanted to help in his own bizarre way.

"Just don't scare her for life," was all he said.

Gen had his signature smirk on his face, "I promise to be on my best behavior," was his only response as he got out of the chair, opened the door, and dashed out of the Turk office.

Tseng felt really sorry for the cadet.

* * *

Again, I just wanted to remind everyone that SugarAdict!Seph and Turk Playground are originally Lord Shinta's ideas. I'm using them with her permission.

As for the first little brother, well it is probably very obvious, but to those who don't know, it will be made apparent in a couple of chapters.


	3. Chapter 3

Just a heads up, I put up a poll for this fic on my page asking if I should give Cloud First Tsurugi eventually. I'm not sure since his build is different in this fic since I made him a girl if it would be practical to have her with the sword or to give her a katana. There is also an it's-his-signature-weapon-so-have-her-keep-it option. I'll have it up for a while.

Also, there is a time skip to the next day after Tseng's part because this chapter would be way too short otherwise.

I will also change Reno to Ren. I came across it when looking up names for a possible story. It is a girl's name meaning lotus, and it is similar to Reno. But I will be keeping Cloud's name the same.

Last note before the story: made a small revision to chapter 2. I just added a word to when Genesis is talking with Tseng about Sephiroth. It does change things so I would recommend taking a look at the sentence at the very least.

* * *

Thank Gaia that the day was finally over! If there is one good thing about being the only girl is that she had a room all to herself.

Also David was far away in the cadet barracks.

Luckily she managed to avoid him the rest of the day, though it was only during lunch and the physical classes where avoiding him was an issue.

Speaking of the physical classes she was in desperate need of a miracle for her sparing class. That class was hard! The moves may be simple but they were difficult for her to execute. If she couldn't swing a sword then there would be no way for her to pass the SOLDIER exam, and that was coming up in three months! What was she doing wrong in that class?

Well there wasn't much she could do now.

Getting up from her very comfy bed Cloud moved over to her desk, getting ready to write a letter to her mother and Tifa.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Tseng opened up the door to his and Ren's shared apartment and was immediately greeted by Bagheera and Loki, his girlfriend's two cats. She rescued them from a shelter a couple of years ago, and at the time he had mixed feelings about them. That could be because she spent more time with them at the start.

Bagheera is a 3 year old female Tonkinese named after Bagheera from the Jungle Book (Ren's favorite growing up), and Loki is a four year old male Bengal. His name is self explanatory.

Closing the door quickly behind him so that they wouldn't get out, Tseng quickly went to locate Ren and found her curled up in a blanket on the couch asleep. Next to her was some cold medicine, a box of tissues, and a waste bin full of them.

A week ago Ren was sent on a mission near Icicle Inn with her partner Cissnei. There had been rumors that members of AVALANCH were there, so they were sent to see if they were true. It should have only taken them a couple of days, but a blizzard hit and trapped them there with no power. When they came back, Ren was suffering from a nasty cold.

Taking a look at her, Tseng took in that she looked much healthier now than three days ago when she got back. She was recovering nicely and would be back at work soon if not tomorrow.

Ren mumbled something in her sleep before snuggling deeper into her blankets. Tseng stroked her hair for a bit before moving to the kitchen to make her diner.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Blargh!

Mornings…

He hated mornings…

They are evil!

EVIL!

Well at least that was how Sephiroth viewed them.

Currently he was nursing a cup of coffee (loaded with sugar and some milk) in the common area that he shared with Angeal and Genesis. Their floor (which was the 26th floor in a 30 story building) consisted of six bedrooms (three of which are currently unoccupied), a shared kitchen/dining area, and a living room containing two large book shelves, two couches and a love seat, a coffee table, a widescreen TV, and a stereo system.

The building they lived in was a Shinra owned building that was less than a half a block away from where the company worked; it was a housing area for all SOLDIER and Turks (who were located on 27th and 28th floors and their floors were in a style similar to the one occupied by the 1ST's), and the VP lived there (he had a floor to himself, second from the top) as did the president on the top floor (though he was hardly ever there if at all). The cadets lived in barracks on sight while the regular army and everyone else had to find housing in the city.

Anyways Sephiroth hated mornings. He would rather sleep till noon if he could. Unfortunately it wasn't his day off, so he had to get up at 8. And the last time he tried to sleep in on a work day, the Turks were sent in to wake him up.

Having a barrel of ice cold water being dumped on you is not a fun way to start the morning.

Seriously, mornings, who gets up that early.

"Morning!"

…Right…Gen…

"Aren't mornings just wonderful Seph?"

"….…"

Genesis sighed and rolled his eyes. No real surprise there. Though there may be a way to get the other to wake up.

"So today Lazard is going to send that letter to that cadet about the mentorship program, and if she says yes then I'll start training her. Either today or tomorrow depending how the day goes."

And Seph now looked awake.

Yep, that worked.

"Is there any particular reason why you wanted to share that piece of information?" Must. Not. Look Interested.

Genesis shrugged, "No reason, just felt like letting you know." Yeah, keep playing the innocent card.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes and finished off his coffee before leaving suit like apartment. "I'm going to head to work and ignore you the rest of the day."

Genesis did a silly little pout at that before following the other out.

Until Seph got together with his cadet, he was going to have lots of fun messing with the other.

* * *

…I need to be able to write longer chapters…

Figured that since it is Fem!Reno I would make her partner Cissnei and then have Rude be Tseng's partner instead.

Also SugarAdict!Seph from Lord Shinta is now the randomly occurring SweetTooth!Seph or something like that (though she is still responsible for his origins).

I'm also considering writing a prequel to this starting with Ren (a.k.a Fem!Reno) joining the Turks and covering how Ren and Tseng got together. Thoughts?


	4. Author's NOte

Sorry for the lull in updates for my stories so I'm going to quick explain what has been happening.

It took two weeks to fix my dam computer. The repair center on my campus spent the first week running software checks and updating stuff but that only aggravated the situation and practically made my computer unusable. I was then told to re-image my computer, which meant that I had to back everything of importance up or I'd loose it all. Unfortunately it did not fix my problem meaning I had to do all of it for no reason. Eventually they got around to replacing my system board and the problem is now fixed.

Then I had homework and tests that were taking up too much time. It was also killing all my muses.

Fortunately, I had no finals so I was able to spend the past couple of weeks re-charging and bringing my muses back to life. I plan to resume writing on my fics after graduation, though I do have to start looking into internships so I'll be jumping between writing my fics and looking for work.

Fic updates:

Angels and Daemons as well as Of Love and Loss will be the first to resume. Before all of this started I had a chapter partially written for one story and was just starting another chapter for the other.

Twisted Paths and Dragonborn Comes are going to be on hiatus for a bit. They are to be my biggest projects but my muses seem to be uncooperative. Hopefully it wont be the case for too long.


End file.
